Custom Tree Quilt

This Christmas I had such a great time making Stockings for so many families.  I met some great people, heard some great stories and have some great customers.  One of my customers decided to have a custom quilt commissioned for some friends of hers that are getting married this summer.  We have been throwing around ideas and have finally decided what it will be.

I will be making a custom quilt with a tree somewhat similar to my family tree except that it will have two separate trunks that will twist together to make one solid trunk and then bloom in to beautiful leaves.  It will have thier names and wedding dates on the trunk as well as their engagement date and their dating anniversary.  Along the bottom will be the words "When Two Become One".

This is the final concept sketch for the quilt, over the next few weeks I'll add pictures of the progress of the quilt so you can follow me through my process of creating one of my custom quilts.

President's Weekend

Thursday night before president's weekend my husband Gary says "I want to go on a road trip".  Ok, I say thinking "I need to get away too", "but we have to be back Monday night".  So off he goes to plan the trip.  "We're going to San Francisco" he tells us.  Uhhhhh that's a long way away do you think we can get there and back in time?

Well true to form nothing get's packed Thursday night and he wants to leave at 5:30 am to get an early start.  So here we are Friday morning trying to get everyone packed and going.  I don't think we actually left the driveway til about 9:30 or 10.  That's 4+ hours behind schedule and he wanted to be in Astoria for breakfast...NOT!

Late start aside we had a great time.  Here are some pictures to take you along our trip.

The first day was rainy and cold down the WA/OR coast.  The surf was sooo huge, it was GORGEOUS!

Our first pit stop for sightseeing was in Oregon at a little pull out called Devil's Cauldron.  My honey commented before making an abrupt exit from the highway "Anything with the name Devil in it is worth seeing".

"Mom, that waves HUGE.  Take the picture QUICK!"

Back in the GEOJEEP we go to get further down the coast.  After lunch we stopped at a great little beach to stretch our legs and play a little. 

The boys found a rock to climb and Sierra and I headed for the beach.

Sierra's footprints in the sand and she finds a rock her size to scale.

Family photo moment (you know I'm there cause we have a picture).

Sierra and Tanner decide to play chicken with some waves....Sierra lost.

Next we decided to try and make it to the Redwoods and see Paul Bunyon.  We made it there, but 10 minutes too late to take the tour.  Paul and Babe still greeted us for a little rest before the next stretch of driving.

We did find a cool tree to drive through though.

Day 3, we made it to San Francisco!  Too bad this is as close to Alcatraz as we could get.  We will have to spend more time next time so we can go.

As the sun set on San Francisco we headed up Highway 1 deciding we were going to give it one last try to get to the Redwoods the next day and take the tour.

Day 4, we made it!  With just an hour to spare before the tour closed, but boy it was worth it!

The Brotherhood tree is HUGE

Then we took a ride up the gondola to the top of the mountain

Check out this stump!

How'd you like a dog this size?

Tanner and the "Pooped Logger".  I'm a pooped logger after all this driving...

Well that's about all the fun we could handle, now we need to get home QUICK!  What a great vacation, we'll have to do this again.

A Box, Felt and a Can of Glue

Last night at 6:30 pm my darling daughter informed my husband and I, just as we are slicing some yummy Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner, that she needs a costume for the school play tomorrow.  After I picked my jaw up from the floor and the panicked look subsided from my husbands face we asked "what does your costume need to be?".  "I'm Spongebob" she says with a huge smile.  Ohhhh noooo, were the first thoughts that went through my head.

So to get a better idea of what I was in for I ask her what time she needs her costume for.  She explains that the parent performance is at 7:00 at night, but wait...there's more, we have a kid performance during the day so I need to take my costume with me to school.

JoAnn's doesn't open til 9, so that leaves tonight.  We finish dinner, then my husband and I set out on a mission to get supplies to make a Spongebob costume.  First stop JoAnn's.  We find Yellow Felt by the yard, White and Brown for his pants...but what else do we need?  We found a piece of fleece with Spongebob on it and realize that we need to make a big face on it, so pick up some blue for the eyes and red for the tie.  Our next dilema, how are we going to make her square.  We head over to the foam department, throw around a couple of ideas, but the cost and how to put it together are a problem.  So, we head over to the cutting counter and decide to ask for a box.  Sure, we have plenty of boxes says the nice lady behind the counter taking pity on us for having to make this costume at the last minute.  We go to the back and find the perfect box, figure out how much felt we need and off we go to try and put it together.

Gary tapes the box back together into a box shape (it had been flattened), then cuts a hole for the head, a square out of the bottom and round holes for the arms.  Now it's my turn.  I wrap the bottom in brown felt, a band of white and the top in yellow cutting out the arm and head holes.  While doing that Gary makes eyes shirt lapels and a tie.  Some spray glue later and a few more details with a sharpie and Wha Lah! Spongebob.

We look at each other and say "Who knew you could make this with a box, some felt and a can of spray glue!"

It's All About...Vol 6

Owls, Owls, Owls.  Lately I have just been in love with all of the great owl items that are being made.  I never thought of myself as someone who like retro style stuff, but these owls and bright colors have won me over.

It's All About...Owls

Shops featured in today's treasury are: nurdansen, GSpeegle, Minimade, woollyfabulous, TheApple, SparklePeach, aprilfoss, Owlwishes, SuzyQQuilts, Charliemai, rhondiecreations and JPATPURSES.  Alternates are: studiolyon, pictorialboom, silentgoddess and mishmashdesigns. (click on the shop names to visit their shops and the alternates to see the item selected).

The next theme will be Lime Green.  Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment with the link to an item you have that would fit this theme.

It's All About... Vol 5

Well I think my whining paid off yesterday.  A treasury opening came up at just the right time. So here is the official "It's All About... HIM"

Visit the treasury here: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111096. Click on each picture and leave a comment, let's see if we can get some guy stuff to the Front Page!

I also found that I have been featured in two treasuries, Valentine Kiddos by KiddoKreations and It's A Beautiful Day by ElegantRoseBoutique.

The next theme for "It's All About..."  will be OWLS.  If you have any cool owls and would like to be included leave a comment here with a link to your item.

Cheers!

Gifts for Him

In preparing to put together a treasury I use a great tool on Etsy called Poster Sketch.  This lets you position all the items you want to feature and test out what the layout will look like.  The next treasury in my "It's All About..." series is titled "It's All About...Him".  Unfortunately I haven't been in the right place at the right time, but I am itching to share my next layout.

So, here is a little something to wet your appetite.  Also, some of the items are sold so if you have something that would fit well with this collection leave a comment with the link so I can include it.  Sellers featured so far are: tinahdee, dcmetaldesigns, TracyDesigns, BatwingsBattleaxes, DahliaHandbags, Leatherworks4U, revolt70, Akumulnk, mangosteenjewelry, FreakofMetal, RAGGEDedgeGear and TimothyAdamDesigns.



Also new on my site today is this great Valentine Quilt.  I think I have just about exhausted my Valentine's creativity so time to move on to some great new fabrics I received recently.  Moda's OZ and Timeless Treasures Frolic to name a few!

New Valentines Treasures

With the gloomy weather we had last week I actually got quite a bit done. New to my shop for last week are some more Valentines items guaranteed to brighten up your home and get you in the spirit.

First are some great embroidered napkins.  They remind me of those great heart candies that are traditional this time of year, but without all the calories!

Valentine Napkins $15 Set of 4 at Suzy-Q's

Next I finished a fun Valentine Quilt.  I love the abstract looking hearts and all of the pink just puts me in a good mood!  The quilt measures 50" x 75" and is perfect for two to snuggle up close under.

Hearts Galore $225 at Suzy-Q's

Other great gifts for your sweetheart are available in my shop at suzyqquilts.etys.com.

His 'n Hers Koffee Kuffs $15 at Suzy-Q's

L'Amour by Moda Table Runner $36 at Suzy-Q's

Hand Painted Totes $34.99 at Suzy-Q's

Monday Feb 1st Adventure!

We had so much fun on our last adventure that since the kids were out of school for a teacher work day we decided it was time for another.  Too much being cooped up in the house this gloomy week and we had the itch to go somewhere.  Where to though?

Vancouver BC...White Rock...Baker Lake...Nope, Mt.Baker Hwy again.  There was a logging road that we had scoped out the last time we were out and about, but didn't have time to see where it went to.  We knew there was a trailhead at the end so there wouldn't be any gates, but could we get there this time of year was the question.

Off we went.  About a mile down the road we found a neat pull out with about 6-7 campsites.  Here is a view from the backyard of our favorite one:

We decided that this will definitely be on our list this summer.  A great pool of glacier fed water to dip your feet into on a hot summer day with the rush of the river in the background.  What a great way to relax!

As I was taking pictures the natives got restless and I got the "Let's GO" signal:

I did talk the kidlets into one last picture though:

Up the mountain trail we headed.  There were beautiful views of the mountains and valleys below as we climbed and climbed.  There were also some amazing waterfalls along the roadside.  I was able to talk our driver into slowing for just a moment to capture this one:

About halfway up the trail we hit snow...literally...no further for us today, darn!

We marked the spot on the GPS and this was a unanimous vote for MUST come back again.